OSHA Increases Inspections,
Safety Training Sessions in 2019

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) fiscal year 2019 final statistics show a significant increase in the number of inspections and a record amount of compliance assistance to further the mission of ensuring that employers provide workplaces free of hazards.

OSHA’s enforcement activities reflect the department’s continued focus on worker safety. Federal OSHA conducted 33,401 inspections—more inspections than the previous three years –addressing violations related to trenching, falls, chemical exposure, silica and other hazards in a multitude of industries and businesses.

Though the forest products industry is just one of many that OSHA has jurisdiction over, in FY 2019, OSHA provided a record 1,392,611 workers with training on safety and health requirements through the Agency’s various education programs, including the OSHA Training Institute Education Centers, Outreach Training Program and Susan Harwood Training Grant Program. OSHA’s compliance assistance programs have helped small businesses address safety and health hazards in their workplaces. In FY 2019, OSHA’s no-cost On-Site Consultation Program identified 137,885 workplace hazards, and protected 3.2 million workers from potential harm.

“OSHA’s efforts—rulemaking, enforcement, compliance assistance and training—are tools to accomplish our mission of safety and health for every worker,” says Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Loren Sweatt. “I am proud of the diligent, hard work of all OSHA personnel who contributed to a memorable year of protecting our nation’s workers.”

Latest news

EU Vote Boosts Biomass

The European Parliament voted in mid-September to recognize primary woody biomass as a renewable energy source, keeping its classification under both the first Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and RED II. According to news reports, the vote was a critical move to meet the ambitious EU Parliament goal to increase the use of renewable energy to 45% by 2030, and for achieving the EU’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2050…

Mercer Purchases Germany’s HIT

Mercer International Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the parent company of HIT (Holz Industrie Torgau) for €270 million. HIT owns, among other things, 100% of a timber processing and value-add pallet production facility in Torgau, Germany and a wood processing facility in Dahlen, Germany that produces garden products…

Find Us On Social

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Wood Bioenergy News Online hits the inboxes of subscribers in the wood-to-energy sectors.

Subscribe/Renew

Wood Bioenergy is published and delivered worldwide 6 times per year. Free to qualified readers in the U.S. Subscribers outside the U.S. are asked to pay a small fee.

Advertise

Complete the online form so we can direct you to the appropriate Sales Representative.